PANEL: Hawaii Agtourism Update (mid-1999 to present)

Moderator: Dr. Kent Fleming

11:10-12:30

Results of Hawaii's first survey of Hawaii Agtourism

Dr. Cathy Chan-Halbrendt, Associate Dean & Director for Research

&

Don Martin, Director, HASS

11:10-11:30

Don Martin:

Dick Bowen and Kent Fleming approached us June or July to see if we were interested in conducting a survey to establish some baseline data and give a picture of where Ag tourism was in Hawaii right now.

Survey Methodology

Initially a 5000 mail survey went out.

[Key points]:

We targeted a non-response follow up on those farms or operations that have some sort of Ag tourism activity
2000 responded, excellent response
100-200 telephone follow-ups
Excellent cooperation
How do we define Agtourism? We define it, although there is some variation: “Agtourism is a commercial enterprise on a working farm conducted for the enjoyment, education and/or active involvement of the visitor generating supplemental income to the farm.”
We didn’t ask about the total farm revenue
Visitors weren’t necessarily tourists, could be local visitors
First state to do survey is Vermont -- we are the second state to have completed the survey. The value of our farms is 2 ½ times greater than their farm results

Dr. Cathy Chan-Halbrendt

Cathy Chan's presentation was created in Microsoft Powerpoint, and has been translated to html for easier viewing on this site. Please see survey.

Farmer-Chef update

Peter Merriman, Merriman's Restaurant (Waimea), Hula Grill (Lahaina)

11:30-11:40

I see a striking similarity between the formation of Hawaii Regional Cuisine 10-15 years ago and what’s going on with this industry.

We started out as a group of 12 chefs with two goals

To promote the idea of food in Hawaii

To create a liaison between the Ag and dining community

At the 10 year anniversary, we met our goals. How did we do it?

[Key points]:

Quality is extremely important.
You can do it anywhere, but you can do it better here.
Make it unique. You can’t get it anywhere else.
It’s OK, better, to be different here in Hawaii
Networking is also very important
If everyone improves the marketplace, everyone benefits
May seem like your competition, but they’re not, they are your co-collaborators
Our Association was very helpful. We limited ours to the original 12 members because we did not want to compromise the issues. Everyone will benefit anyway
Read the Slowfood article in your folder. Farmers are here – The Big Island gets to be the leader. Also note the new TV pilot- tourist show w/ cooking
Visit different farms.
Looking for a sponsor, if you know anyone interested